Loose-leaf holder



Oct. 28, 1941. w. A. DA EY 1 2,260,886

LOOSE-LEAF HOLDER File d Jan. 21, 1941 i INVENTOR.

if BY flu; 91m 17 711 Patented Oct. 28, 1941 U N 1 TE D STATES PATEN O F F 1 CE LOOSE-LEAF HOLDER William A. Daley, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to The S. Gilkey Printing Gompany,0leveland, Ohio, a, corporation of Ohio Application January .121, 1941, Serial No. 375,222

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a loose-leaf holder adapted to carry superimposed sheets which may be readily and detachably secured to such holder, the latter acting as a platen for use when the sheets are written upon.

My invention is in the nature of an improvement on the loose-leaf holder shown in Patent 1,500,612, issued July 8, 1924, to W. S. Gilkey.

Such loose-leaf holders as shown in the patent have been marketed by my assignee for many years and operate effectively, but the fixed pins upstanding from the platen prevent the close stacking of such members when idle, and result in a considerable waste-space in storage. It is an object of the present invention to provide a loose-leaf holder of the general character above described, wherein the pins, when not in use, may be folded down into recesses provided in the holder, so that the entire top of the holder is substantially flush, enabling holders to be closely stacked directly on top of each other. Means are provided for holding the pins in either position against inadvertent displacement.

My invention is disclosed in an approved form in the drawing hereof and is hereinafter more fully explained and the novel essential features are summarized in the claim.

In the drawing, Fig. l is a plan of the holder, showing the two pins in active position with one clip active and the other clip idle, the paper sheet being broken away to disclose one of the pin retaining devices; Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of a portionof the platen, and one of the pins and the retaining device therefor, this view being partly broken away but showing in full lines the pin in its active position, while broken lines indicate the pin in an inactive position; Fig. 3 is a cross section through the platen, pin and retaining device, as indicated by the line 3-3 on Fig. 2, this view showing the pin in its active position; Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the pin in its inactive position; Fig. 5 is a perspective of the pin itself.

In Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, It] indicates the platen, which may be conveniently made of wood (preferably several strips glued together with inserted end portions to prevent warping) and is of a length and width slightly larger than the largest sheet to be mounted thereon. The platen is provided near one margin with a pair of pins 20, adapted to lie horizontally in recesses in the platen when not in use or be turned up at right angles thereto when active. Acting on each pin is a spring device 30 for retaining it either in its idle or .active position and associated with each pin is a spring clip 40 which may retain the paper sheets on the pins.

Describing more specifically the construction J'ust outlined, it will ,be seen from the different figures that the platen is formed near each end 'Wlth a shallow substantially rectangular recess H, slightly widened and deepened at I2 near one end, then with anarrow continuing parallelsided recess l'3 as deep as the portion I2 and running into a round still deeper recess 14.

The pin 20 has a shank and a T-head 2], the shank being preferably square in cross section, whereas the head is rectangular, having its greatest dimension transverse of the shank and its least dimension in the direction of the length of the shank. As shown, the greater dimension of the head is the same as that of the thickness of the shank, so that the whole device may conveniently be out out of a single thickness of sheet metal.

The T-head 2| described, occupies the portion l2 of the recess in the platen. In this position the head is pressed downwardly by the over-lying leaf spring member 30. This spring member preferably consists of two leaves, the underleaf 3| rests in the bottom of the recess H and has its free end engaging the head 2| whether the pin is idle or active. The spring has in its end a notch to receive the shank of the pin when the same is elevated. The upper leaf of this spring member 30 is practically a duplicate of the lower leaf, being notched at its end so that it may augment the pressure of the under-leaf on the head 2|, and may also form a back stop for the pin when elevated.

I By making the spring in two leaves, I'obtain a greater thickness for acting as a back stop in holding the pin elevated, than if a single thin leaf were employed, whereas, I have greater flexibility than if there were a single thick leaf. Two spring leaves lie substantially in the shallow recess II and are held in place by a suitable screw 35, passing through both of them into the platen.

In such a construction as described, when the pin is idle, its shank lies in the parallel-sided recess I3, its end extending into the round recess M, as indicated in full lines in Fig. 4 and in broken lines in Fig. 2. In this position the operators thumb or finger (indicated at A in Fig. 4) may be inserted into the recess 14 and by bearing against the end of the pin readily raise it from horizontal to vertical position, where it is effectively retained by the spring member 30, as shown in Fig. 3.

The retaining clips 40 are pivoted to the platen at 4! and have elongated arms which normally extend along the platen and then have inwardly projecting enlarged heads 42 with slots 43. When the holder is idle the pins lie snugly in the recesses l2 and I3, the springs 30 extend only a slight distance, if at all, above the face of the plate, and the springs 40 lie flat on the platen. Accordingly, the whole device has substantially a single top plane and numerous holders may be stacked one on top the other for storage. In use it is a very simple matter to elevate the two pins into the position shown in Fig. 3 and in the left hand portion in Fig. 1, and then when the sheets B are put in place the spring clips 40 are passed over the pins and effectively hold the sheets on the platen.

As heretofore commented, the pins preferably have their shanks square in cross section. By making the head 2| thinner in the direction which is vertical when the shank is vertical, I insure the springs being substantially flush with the top of platen when the pins are active, thus providing a smooth support for the paper in this region. Moreover, by having the thinner head with the springs engaging the wider face, a better hold is obtained on the pin when in its active upright position and more force required to tip it down than if the head were square in cross section.

The thickness of the head is the same as that of the shank of the pin. This enables the pin to be cheaply constructed out of a metal sheet of a thickness equal to the thickness of the shank. The square shank has another advantage when the holder is used for carrying paper sheets having a marginal row of perforations b in that the perforations in the particular location corresponding to the pins may be made square while the other perforations are of smaller size and round, so that it will be impossible to mount such sheets in any but one position on the pins, thus avoiding lack of registration of under sheets, which are hidden from view. This feature, however, is not claimed herein.

I claim:

A loose-leaf holder comprising a platen adapted to receive superposed sheets thereon, said platen having a recess adjacent one edge thereof, a shiftable pin carried by the platen to engage through apertures in the sheets and to hold them in position on the platen, said pin having a head and shank which are adapted to occupy said recess when the pin is turned down, whereby the pin lies substantially flush with the top surface of the platen, and the head of the pin being adapted to occupy the recess when the shank projects substantially at right angles to the platen for the purpose of receiving the superposed sheets, a spring device also mounted in said recess and lying substantially flush with the top surface of the platen, said device having an end thereof engaging the head of the pin so as to hold it either in lowered or upright position, and said recess extending beyond and underneath the end of the pin to afford access for lifting the pin into upright position.

- WILLIAM A. DALEY. 

